The Man and the Baboon
by dsf42
Summary: Maybe putting Kudo Yuusaku and Hattori Heiji in one room with a Kudo Shinichi screaming bloody murder in the bathroom wasn't such a good idea...


**Oh hi. I know I should be updating Thank You, but this one-shot's been on my mind since I read Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater.**

**So this is in Ai's point of view, kind of a challenge since its hard to get through her head. But this fic isn't about her. It's about Shinichi and his bond with his parents. With Heiji along with the ride.**

**DISCLAIMER: THE USUAL.**

**Hope you enjoy!**

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I glanced up from my stare at the clock hanging on the wall on top of the bathroom where a very special person was currently inside of for over ten minutes, to the hallway leading to the front door where the doorbell had just rung. _Maybe it's the Org. finally finishing what they left off with_, I thought bitterly as I headed to the front door and opened it.

The Baboon, as I dubbed him, was standing with a stupid grin on his face, appearing too happy and looking like the baboon that he was.

Of course, the Baboon has a name: Hattori Heiji, son of Chief of Police of Osaka Hattori Heizo, Kudo Shinichi's best friend and a baboon. He's both meanings of baboon: unsophisticated, unethical; and a monkey that's buttocks are in plain sight. I gave him a look and turned to head back to my chair in the round kitchen of the Professor.

"Yo, Chicchai-neechan!" he greeted me, walking in step beside me, "I heard Kudo was here."

I made a noncommittal sound in the back of my throat as I perched myself up on the stool I had vacated not two minutes ago. I glanced back up at the wall, _thirteen minutes and thirty-seven seconds and still no sound or movement indicating whether test subject's experiment of APTX4869 prototype-3 had gone successfully or not._ I mentally noted, planning to write on my journal (research on APTX, not a diary) for later after the Baboon had gone.

He was staring at the bathroom door, probably saw how I had glared at the door, willing something to happen; any sign of life from the other door, "What's there?" he asked suspiciously, looking at me with his eyes narrowed, "An' where's Kudo?"

I hate answering questions. It's hard enough being around a curious detective that got into deep shit asking questions about things I'd rather not, but add the Baboon and it's just not fair, "Kudo-kun is in there."

He gawked at me as I glanced back up at the clock, tuning out his outburst of more questions,_ fourteen minutes twenty-one seconds. Still nothing._

I hopped off the stool I was perched on and headed to the bathroom, knocking, "Any progress?" I asked, a tint of worry involuntarily escaping in my tone.

A strained voice answered back, "Yeah." he wheezed, voice hoarse as if his larynx had been punctured by multiple needles, "It's.. taking a lot slower.. and's a lot.. more painful." he had to take several breaths to give me his report on his body's progress with the new prototype I had him try out. The dosage was far larger than the past prototypes, since I added in a new chemical base to help structure his bone marrow, which is incredibly fragile during transformations. There was also the element of calcium cyanide which is extremely toxic, so requiring all of the elements mixed in the prototype to be equal is a must unless Kudo Shinichi would want to end up a tangled mess of limbs, dead.

I sighed, finally hearing a small whimper escape from him, and headed towards the kitchen to make Kudo-kun's guest some tea. He's clearly not my guest since he's a baboon.

"He's changing..?" the Baboon's suddenly anxious voice reached me, I glanced towards him, watching as he wore his heart on his sleeves, his face contorting in a frown, his dark complexion a bit pale.

I said nothing, opting to keep quiet and listen to the soft groans and whimpers escaping from the small bathroom on the other side of the house. At least the Professor wasn't here to see this. He really hated it when Shinichi readily agrees to my calls to come no matter what time of day just to try an antidote that has more of a potential to kill him than actually cure him. The silence was overbearing as the Baboon's aura excreted nervousness and fear, the only thing heard was his heavy breathing, the tick tock of the clock, the soft clang of metal against china glass as I made tea, "Do you want to leave?" I asked him, handing him a cup of steaming black tea, and sat on my bed***** where the bathroom was visible, "This is your first time seeing him try a new antidote, right?" I said, calmly sipping my own tea, "Other than the Shiragami case." I muttered.

He shook his head, "I need ta be here for him," he said, nervous yet determined to stick with his decision, "...Why isn't he screamin'?" he asked after a few minutes of silence.

I sighed, hearing the front door open, and looked up, gauging if it was the Professor. He was out for a small convention at Haido City, "He's building a resistance to the antidote.." I explained, finally hearing the Professor's fat and loud set of footsteps, "I had to make the dosage higher so it would still have some effect on him... It does have an effect, but his body is slowly shifting, unlike the other times where the transformation comes instantaneous. He doesn't start the agonizing phase, or 'screaming' if that's what you want to call it, in" I glanced at the clock, _eighteen minutes sixteen seconds_, "about two minutes."

The Baboon hummed, still directing his frown on the bathroom door, where the groans and whimpers turned into exclamations of pain.

The footsteps approached the archway that connects it to the kitchen, and I finally realized that the Professor wasn't alone.

"Then I guess I get the pleasure to finally see what my son goes through to become who he is." a deep, amused voice answered from the archway. A complete Kudo look-alike, minus the unruly bangs and quite older, appeared before me and the Baboon, the Professor smiling softly behind the stranger.

I frowned, the Baboon looking at him with a blank expression, "Kudo-han." he nodded, receiving a curt nod from the man.

I walked towards the Baboon, feeling exposed and tad bit paranoid. The stranger placed his glance on me, "And you must be Haibara Ai, it's a pleasure to finally meet you." he smiled, a complete opposite from Shinichi's soft grin. His was taunting, though appearing friendly.

I nodded just as Kudo-kun had started his screaming inside the bathroom, I glanced quickly at the clock, noting the time before steadying my impassive face towards Kudo Yuusaku.

I said nothing as he frowned at the door, "Is it always like this?" he asked, still looking at the bathroom.

"Yes."

He hummed, the Professor coming around him to head downstairs to our shared lab. Like I said, he wanted nothing to do with Shinichi's pain.

The Baboon, still sitting beside me, studied the man before us with clenched fists, "What are ya doin' here?" he asked, a note of suspicion in his voice, "An' where's Yukiko-neechan?"

The man finally settled his amused gaze on the Baboon, "Yukiko's out visiting a friend in Ekoda." he answered, a small smile on his lips, "Plus, my next draft for Night Baron's due in two days, and I wanted to give my editors a small thrill with hide and seek." the smile turned into a full grin, Kudo-kun's agony-filled shouts getting louder. I glanced back up at the clock, five more minutes before cool down.

"Ya knew nothing about Ku-I mean Shinichi, takin' the antidote today?"

"Nope." the man dismissed, turning towards me, half my body hidden by the Baboon's feet behind his stool on the round kitchen, "Can you explain to me the specs of his transformation?" he smiled gently at me, as if approaching a small animal.

I nearly scoffed, looking away from the taunting smile, "The transformation takes place thirty minutes to an hour," I started, leaving the protective place by the Baboon's feet and perching myself on a stool beside his, "Once the pill is administered, it takes about five minutes for the first symptoms to be observed; sweating, and the slow rise of temperature," I explained, his gaze making my voice waver as I stared at the cup of cold tea in my hands, "After ten minutes from administration, the body should start feeling tingling pain in the skin as bones start stretching, which signals the first transformation of lengthening or shortening of limbs. Then comes the hard part... which is happening right now." I finished just as Kudo-kun's deep adult voice screaming bloody murder as his lungs expanded, which in turn pushes on his erratically beating heart; causing the maximum pain he goes through with every transformation.

I left that part out, glancing to my side as the Baboon had his eye focused on the bathroom door, fists clenched in his lap and legs bouncing on the floor, as if he needed to pound on the bathroom door to find out how Kudo-kun was doing. He's definitely worried, I thought, shifting my gaze to the man that barged in, unwelcome in our presence, his face passive as Kudo-kun's shouts settled back into whimpers, "The last part is his cool down, his nervous system tries to command every part of him to release steam, causing him to be groggy when the transformation is complete... He's probably passed out right now."

The man hummed, "I see." he said, hands-on-chin pose, very much like Kudo-kun, "Interesting."

If I wasn't so practical, I'd have admitted that the _snap_ I heard beside me was the Baboon's temper, but seeing as how I'm a lot more logical than any detective within the vicinity, I chalked it up to myself hearing things, "Interested?_!_" the Baboon shouted, almost standing up as he gripped the side of his stool, "Ya call your own son's pain, interesting?_!_" he bellowed, his free hand (he placed his tea cup down on the counter before exploding) grabbing his hair in a dire attempt to control himself.

The man seemed to have changed expressions from amusement to passiveness, "I did not mean it that way, Heiji-kun."

"Don't ya dare call me by my first name!" he cried out, "Ya don't even know me!"

"Okay," the man said, holding one hand up to soothe the Baboon, "I understand, Hattori-kun, but you need to calm down."

"Calm down?_!_" he exclaimed, his hold on the side of the stool making his dark knuckles turn almost white, "Ya expect me ta calm down when yer own son is in there with about a fifty-fifty chance of survivin' that goddamned antidote, an' yer all calm about it_!?_"

"Don't be exaggerating on that fifty-fifty situation, Hattori-kun." the man replied, voice calm yet hiding a tint of anger in his voice, "Right? Haibara-san?" he turned to me.

I looked away, sensing both of their glares at me, "...The antidote I had made for this dosage contains a seventy to thirty ratio..."

The man smirked, "See? He's-"

I had to cut off his smug voice as my own irritation rose, but I kept my voice level, revealing nothing, "Seventy percent of the ratio... means death for him."

He rounded his eyes on me as I finally had the guts to look up at the occupants of the room, "You mean..?" he broke off, his mask still passive, "You've been giving my son dangerous doses of that whatever drug your making?" he finished, and I can feel from his tenseness that he's blaming me. Not the first time.

"Don't ya dare put the blame on her!" the Baboon had cut in before the man had a chance to continue his tirade, "She's been the one ta give Kudo hope of an antidote! She's been the one ta always been here as a support whenever Kudo broke down because of all the pressure!" he exclaimed, his loud voice echoing precariously around the elliptical house, "An' where the hell were ya?_!_ You an' yer wife both?_!_" he finally stood up, his hands a shaking mess at his sides, "Gallivatin' around the world, runnin' from yer editors, an' not once have you guys visited to check in on him!"

"We did." his mask was starting to crack, his face contorting into a snarl.

"Ta play a prank on him, ta get back at each other 'cause yer wife thought ya were cheatin' on her an' ta see his life as a grade-schooler." Hattori-kun (since when did I start calling him that?) counted off on his fingers, "For the past year, three times, two of which wasn't even for his sake." his voice took on a dangerous low, challenging the man to tell him that he was wrong.

"We didn't know that it'd be this dangerous."

Hattori-kun gave a bitter laugh, "Ya didn't know because you guys don't even check up on him!" he exclaimed, voice rising once more, "The next thing you know, the Professor or 'Neechan or even Chicchai-neechan will be calling you that Kudo's dead!"

"Don't you dare say that." the man's face twisted into anger, though his eyes showed an overflowing guilt, "I asked him if he wanted to come with us... he said no."

"...But ya didn't ask him if he wanted you ta stay with him." he whispered, though venom coated each word as he glared at the man.

"That's enough, Hattori-kun." a new voice piped in from the staircase leading to the labs.

All three of our heads whipped in the direction of the Professor's voice, the old man wearing a sad frown on his face as he looked at each one of us, "I think he got what you wanted to get through."

Hattori-kun stormed past the man, purposely bumping his shoulder and the man stumbled back, landing unceremoniously on his buttocks.

Instantly, as the front door slammed shut, the bathroom door opened to reveal Kudo-kun in his full body, a small triumphant smile on his face. It fell as soon as it landed on the scene before him; my calm composure as I sat on my stool, the Professor's frown and his father's disheveled form sprawled on the floor, his gaze on his lap, "What happened here?" he asked cautiously, probably thinking if he was dreaming like the last time he took an antidote.

We ignored him as I hopped off the stool and walked towards the man, "For the record, I never wanted to give him this dose," I explained as he looked up at me, his eyes defeated, no longer holding the smug amusement he had a few minutes ago, "Kudo-kun knew of the dangers in this batch, and he took it because someone's waiting for him at his _real_ home. He has a much better family here than you and your eccentric wife can ever be." I finished, walking away and grabbing Kudo-kun's hand to drag down to the lab for further testing of his stability.

I smiled, hidden from view, _maybe the Baboon's not such a baboon after all._

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**Ohhhhhhhhh. I'm sorry Yuusaku, I didn't mean to bash at you. :(**_  
_

***You guys know the layout of Professor Agasa's house, right? With the kitchen and the bed? xD**

**I was thinking that Ai's point of view would have a lot of science lingo and deep words, so I tried my best. D'you guys think I got it? :)**


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